Category: Looking Attractive

We all make assumptions and judgements in the first few seconds on meeting someone based on stereotypes, a gut instinct and so on. It’s one of those aspects of life we aren’t necessarily proud of or eager to admit, but it has sparked a lot of psychological research.

Specifically how others perceive us based on our smile, whether it is in terms of attractiveness, intelligence, or potential employers during an interview.

Articles have been published based on the Oral B smile report on Heart radio online about what our smile and teeth say about us to other people.

The study took a group of 1000 men and women, they were shown an image of a woman with clean and healthy looking teeth. Another group of 1000 men and women were shown an image of the same woman with one difference. She had stained unhealthy teeth. Following this the groups were asked a series of questions relating to the womans personal life, age, career, attractiveness and intellect. The results of the subjects opinions were as follows.

Bad teeth can age you by 13 years

68% believe good teeth indicate a university education

70% believe those with stained, unhealthy looking teeth must have gone to a state school

82% think you earn more if you have healthy looking teeth

Men rank a ‘gorgeous smile’ higher than a ‘great figure’

40% of men think women with unhealthy teeth must be single

Another article in the news relating to this was featured in the Daily Mail

This stated that Holly Willoughby has the most sought after smile and that whiter teeth can make you look younger and more successful when applying for jobs. Below are some of the statistics they found.

75% of Brits want whiter teeth, but 25% don’t clean teeth properly

White teeth can make you look 20% more attractive

Make people think you earn £10,000 more than if you have stained teeth

Having white teeth increases your employment potential by 10%

Men are more worried about having bad teeth than going bald

On dates bad breathe and yellow teeth are top turn offs

It is very interesting how such a subtle difference of whiter teeth can improve a persons perception of your wealth and increase your employment potential. It seems that in our mind we link attractiveness and looking healthy to current and future success.

The Mail further states that on average the general public want their teeth to be two shades whiter with dentists stating that yellow teeth is the most common problem when regarding the nations smiles. Everyone seems to be trying to get that celebrity smile in particulary Holly Willoughby.

The current trend of having a whiter smile seems to be more of a long term investment, whether you are looking for a new partner or increasing your career prospects.

Therefore for those 25% who apparently don’t clean their teeth properly perhaps it is wise to spend that extra 2 minutes in the morning or have a dental hygiene visit, it could lead potentially to future success.

Alternatively why not book in for a Whitening Consultation priced at £30.00 especially if you have a dream job interview to attend and want to impress with a bright smile. At our practice we perform both In-Surgery Whitening (£180 per session) or Home Whitening kits (£280).

You never know,you may even meet the man or woman of your dreams along the way.

As Friday the 14th February rapidly approaches we at Ashford Dental Care would like to offer some advice how to make you extra kissable to your partner.

Bad breath can be caused by diabetes, bronchitis and other medical conditions. However the main cause of bad breath is the micro-organisms within the mouth. Once we have eaten and have a full stomach we never really consider what remnants of dinner and lunch are left behind in between our teeth.

Regular brushing and flossing can tackle most of the problem as well as a regular scale and polish. Here is a video link for flosssing instruction.

However many of us forget to clean something very obvious within the mouth, The Tongue.

The tongue is covered in many tiny bumps and pits, these provide the perfect habitat for all those nasty smelling micro-organisms to live in. One example is a fungus named Candida Albicans. This fungus species is also associated with Thrush so as you can imagine it is not something you want to be cultivating within your mouth.

These microorganisms produce sulphur compound gases such as hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan and dimethyl sulfide . Sulphur gases often smell like rotten eggs. If you can keep these pesky bugs to a minimum then this should improve your breathe.

Now to remove these bugs it might be worth investing in a tongue scraper. They are small and feature a plastic handle and a curved loop on the end. This curve allows the device to fit to the shape of your tongue, so that when you pull the scraper down the tongue it will scrape off the germs and bacteria. Alternatively you could use a wet toothbrush with no toothpaste however the shape of the brush and bristles are not designed for the texture and shape of the tongue, and you may only have a limited amount of success. Below is an image of a tongue scraper and how to use it. If your tongue is cut or sore, it is not wise to use the scraper until it is healed. There is no set amount of time for cleaning your tongue, just simply clean until you are satisfied.

However if this makes no difference to your breathe it could be related to gum disease, cavities or a health condition. Therefore is it important to discuss this with your Dentist and Doctor and to have regular check ups.

The dating site, Match.com , ran a survey recently to find out exactly what attracts men and women.

A survey, as reported by USA Today, asked 5,500 unattached adults 21 and over, what qualities of the opposite sex they judge most important.

The findings are below:

Ten things on which men judge women most:

Teeth – 58%

Grammar – 55%

Hair – 51%

Clothes – 45%

Having/not having a tattoo – 40%

Nails/hands – 37%

Accent – 19%

Shoes – 18%

The car they drive – 13%

Electronic devices they carry – 9%

Then things on which women judge men most:

Teeth – 71%

Grammar – 69%

Clothes – 58%

Hair – 53%

Nails/hands – 52%

Having/not having a tattoo – 34%

Shoes – 29%

The car they drive – 24%

Accent – 22%

Electronics devices they carry – 10%

Another study, in which people were asked what they remember most about people they meet, supports the Match.com study. Over 85% of those surveyed stared that they remember people with a beautiful smile.

So it seems if you want to attract that special someone and be remembered, a trip to the dentist may be more important than a trip to the Apple Store,